Good day

POINT NUMBER 1: Caga Tio

Yes, I already posted this Caga Tio video on Facebook. Now I post it on my blog (not everyone is on Facebook!) with extended detail.

Talking to a neighbor the other day, I finally got what I think is the straight dope on Caga Tio. Why a log that we feed, then beat until it shits out presents?!!?!

Well, back in the days of the pagès (pah-zhes), the peasant farmers who populated the valleys of northern Spain and Southern France, etching out a living where no invading Moor bothered go, leaving behind massive stone houses (masias) that have endured 700+ years, man's dependence on and subjection to nature was foremost on the collective mind.

So, at Christmas time, or possibly pagan holiday time, families took to wandering the woods to find a hollow log to love and care for as a way to give back to Nature. On the big night, they may or may not have hit it, but certainly would have filled the hollow log with dry fruits, nuts, bread and other simple foods that "Nature" would then give back to them, possibly by shitting, as a reward for their weeks of care. This was Christmas dinner.

I like this tradition more and more each year, and this year, for the first time, we plan to get our own Caga Tio (today in the Christmas market near the cathedral!) which we will take to England, hide and the woods, and take Lily and other to go find. Yeah!

POINT NUMBER 2: What a great day.

It's confirmed that I have the job with this indie record label, correcting their English lyrics and artists accents when they sing. Sweet.

I spent the morning making pumpkin/carrot cream soup and egg croquetas (so we can stay out late as a family later and have food to warm up for dinner), am off to work to collaborate on developing a resource wiki (fun!), and then to meet Oli and Lily at the Christmas market.

Life is good.

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